The Dragon Legion Collection(70)
“Air,” Alexander said, along with the other Pyr.
Alexander lifted the scale and pressed it against the bare spot on Damien’s chest. Petra heard the hiss as it seared his flesh and she stepped forward in concern. Damien tipped back his head and roared at the pain.
To Petra’s surprise, Alexander touched her cheek with his claw. “Water,” he murmured, transferring her tear to the hot scale. The water sizzled against it, sending up a stream of vapor as it disappeared. To her relief, the scale darkened immediately and Damien shuddered in relief.
Alexander then lifted her son from her arms and held him high. “Welcome, Orion! Welcome to the new Pyr among us!” The Pyr roared approval, each one tipping back his head to send a blaze of dragonfire into the sky.
There was a crack like lightning and a blue-green bolt of darkfire appeared out of nowhere. Petra gasped when it touched her son, but then it was gone and he was gurgling happily. The flames of the bonfire leapt toward the sky, casting a joyous spray of sparks in every direction as if in celebration, and Damien caught both her and her son close to his chest.
Petra checked the baby, only to discover that there was a small mark on his arm, just like his father’s.
“He’s one of us,” Damien murmured to her and Petra nodded, glancing at the Mothers. He was of her kind as well, and she couldn’t wait to see what that combination brought in the future.
Damien flew a triumphant circle around the peak of the mountain, making Petra laugh with his obvious happiness. The Pyr cheered as he landed and shifted shape quickly, holding Petra fast against his chest.
When he kissed her thoroughly, Petra could only return his embrace in kind. Her heart was alight with happiness and she had the urge to sing that love song to him again. Against all expectation, they’d been given the second chance they needed to make their partnership work.
Nothing would ever drive them apart again.
* * * * *
Kiss of Destiny
The Third Dragon Legion Novella
by Deborah Cooke
He will sacrifice anything to win his destined love...
When the darkfire crystal takes the dragon shape shifters Thad and Drake to an unknown location, only fulfilling his firestorm matters to Thad. Little does he know that in following its light to his destined mate, he’s stepping into the realm of the gods, a place so forbidden to mortals that any who enter it must die. Aura has always been skeptical of long-term promises—but Thad is irresistible. No sooner does Aura surrender than the gods demand their due of her dragon shifter. Can she save Thad and make the dream of the firestorm come true?
Prologue
Drake had never been more exhausted in his life. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he didn’t dare to close them. He didn’t trust the darkfire crystal to sleep while he did. He didn’t know how long they’d been suffering through this ordeal with the unpredictable stone, but he didn’t think he could survive much more of it.
There was just himself and Thad left, the younger Dragon Legion Warrior filled with an enthusiasm that Drake couldn’t match.
They were together in a nameless park, sitting on the lip of a concrete fountain. Night was falling and the stars were coming out. The park, which had been busy earlier in the day, was becoming more and more quiet, as people returned home with their children and dogs. Unless Drake missed his guess, this park was in an American city in the twenty-first century. Their clothing blended in well enough here for them to avoid scrutiny.
Drake wondered if that would be the case if they stretched out and slept on the benches.
“I wonder why it brought us here,” Thad mused. He was like a curious child, thrilled with every place the darkfire crystal deposited them and intent upon figuring out the stone’s logic.
“It could be whim,” Drake said.
Thad shook his head. “No, there has to be a reason. There has to be a point.”
Drake said nothing. He’d learned long ago that many events in life didn’t have a point. All the same, he remembered having Thad’s optimism once, many, many years ago.
“There’s no firestorm’s spark,” Drake couldn’t help but observe. “Maybe your theory is wrong.”
“No, it makes perfect sense for the darkfire crystal to take us to our firestorms. That way, we find our destined mates and make more Pyr.”
“Perhaps the darkfire thinks there are enough dragon shape shifters in the world. It was released by the Slayer Chen, and he has no fondness for our kind.”
“It’s older than he is, I think, and strong enough to use him for its purposes.”
“You don’t know.”
Thad grinned. “No, but I like that answer better.”
“Even if it isn’t the truth?”
Thad leaned closer and bumped shoulders with Drake, a gesture of such familiarity that Drake was shocked. “Come on,” Thad said. “Don’t you want to go back to Cassandra?”
Drake didn’t answer that. He stared into the depths of the stone and admitted his secret fear. Although he’d been happy enough with the results of his firestorm at the time, the centuries had changed him. He wanted more than sex and sons. He knew Cassandra was self-reliant and didn’t doubt that she’d provided well enough for herself in his absence. She was practical and not afraid to be tough. She would have raised their son well. He knew, though, that if he returned to her after all his adventures, he would do so as a changed man. The man he had become might not be so content with Cassandra.